Spring Quarter is a time of warmth, sun, and general good times. Or so people say. Essentially, Spring Quarter starts off with high hopes, which get dashed by crappy weather and hard classes. But once the weather warms up and the flip-flops come out, spirits are soaring and it’s time for chilling on the Lakefill and getting drunk on Dillo Day. And what better way to express the roller coaster of Spring Quarter than through song? Here are ten of them to illustrate what we’re about to go through.

Every week, North by Northwestern’s Entertainment staff will give you 10 songs to get through the week. Have any suggestions? E-mail us.

In the weeks leading up to spring quarter…
Pixies- Winterlong

We’ve waited “winterlong” for Spring Quarter: trudging through snow, sleet, and unsalted sidewalks with the hope that, after spring break, things will flourish and be happy. This song illustrates the romantic, sweet notions we hold of Spring Quarter.

When you actually get here and realize it’s still cold…
Radiohead – “Let Down”

But hold on: did that week in Cabo get you excited for a lovely three months of Chicago sunshine? Sorry ’bout that: The 10-day forecast is mostly rainy — probably like the rest of the quarter. Spring Quarter’s great, but it’s never quite as great as you want. At least this song sounds sunny.

As the quarter begins…
Carly Simon – “Anticipation”

So wait: When is Spring Quarter supposed to be awesome? Oh yes, Dillo Day, if it doesn’t rain like it did last year. But from March 30 until May 31, it’s simply “anticipa-a-tion” making us wait for the promised fun, or at least the sun.

When the sun starts to come out…Avenue Q – “There Is Life Outside Your Apartment”

Who knew there was stuff to do outside the confines of your dorm room/off-campus apartment? You find out this stuff once the temperatures creep above 40. As the Broadway song goes, “There is cool shit to do, but it can’t come to you. And who knows, dude, you might even score!”

When you realize it’s almost summer and you have no plans…
Kanye West – “Spaceship”

One, two, three: Commence campus-wide summer internship freak-out. June’s three months away, and you haven’t yet landed a spot at a Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper or an investment firm that isn’t Bear Stearns? Looks like your fate is Kanye’s: a season of toil at the Gap.

Good thing Sex Week is around to distract us from all the stress and rain. If it’s anything like last year, the week will feature lectures, shows, and demonstrations to make the prudish want to run and hide. But hey, as the song says, “don’t decoy, avoid, or make void the topic, ’cause that ain’t gonna stop it.”

In the month of May…
Jimmy Cliff – “I Can See Clearly Now”

After a week of looking at replicated genitalia, everyone’s eyes will be wide open. Classes will become nothing more than a nagging memory once we can see the allure of Lake Michigan in above freezing temperatures. Get outside and let that pasty white skin hit the sun. It’s springtime – even though it started in mid-May.

On Dillo Eve…
Brooke Valentine – “Girl Fight”

It’s about to be a – what? Girl fight? Yes, it’s about to be all sorts of fights up in Shanley Pavilion when it’s transformed into a wrestling ring for the return of Wrestlepocalypse. This Vertigo-produced show is an insane experience, with people wearing too much spandex parodying- yet applauding- pro-wrestling.

On Dillo Day…
Andrew W.K. – “Party Hard”

Oh hey, it’s time for Dillo Day! This is the one time each year where Northwestern actually acts like a Big Ten school, and, as Andrew W.K. so delightfully puts it, “When you work you don’t feel all right…so let’s get a party going!”

When classes end…
DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince – “Summertime”

Finals are finished, and for all of us who didn’t score that summer internship or that job at the Gap, it’s time to relax at your parents’ house. Let the Fresh Prince help you unwind with “a groove that soothes that moves romance,” even if you’re just sitting at home playing Wii, counting down the days until Fall Quarter.